Pricing a Home

Properly pricing a home is crucial. Whether you live in Canton, Novi, Farmington Hills or Livonia–or any other community in Metro Detroit–you want top dollar for your home.

And every seller wants to know what their home is worth.

We created this page to help you quickly get up to speed on these and other related issues. Below, we cover:

An instant analysis of your home’s potential value

How market value is actually determined

Why pricing your home properly from the very beginning is so vitally important

After you read this page, you’ll be more informed and in better position to objectively determine the value of your southeast Michigan-based home.

How much is your home worth right now? Just click to get your value instantly, with tons of key data included! Get your value now >

1. How Much Is My Home Worth?

If you are thinking about selling your home, “how much is my home worth” is very likely your number one question. To get an instant estimate of the value of your home, just click the button at right and we’ll email you information about your home and its potential value on the open market immediately.

Of course, we’ll need to fine-tune that estimate based on the particulars of your home, but this is a great place to begin to understand your home’s probable market value.

2. How Market Value is Determined

There is no doubt that many factors go into determining the ultimate market value of a given piece of real estate. Although – thankfully – not as a volatile as the stock market, the same supply and demand factors that influence the price of a given stock on a given day in many respects similarly affect the fair market value of a home on a given day or during a given finite period of time. Below, you will find a summarization of the various factors that determine the fair market value of real estate.

The most important section is the first section, which is entitled “The Market Value of Your Home is Not.” Here we see the issues that so often influence sellers to make bad decisions with regard to pricing their homes. You may review this list and feel that the items are of a common sense nature. And, for the most part, you are correct.

However, we frequently hear people talk about “the amount for which their home appraised,” or, “the amount for which their home is assessed” as if those measures were the real determinants of price. We wish it were that simple, but it isn’t. Selecting a true real estate professional that understands how to properly price your home is one of the most important and critical decisions that you can make. We hope that do the appropriate research and that you make that decision wisely!

The Market Value of Your Home is Not:

What you have in it

What you need out of it

What you want

What it appraised for

What you heard your neighbor’s house sold for

What your assessed value suggests that it is

How much it is insured for

Based on memories and treasures

Based on prices of homes where you are moving

The LIST PRICES of other comparable homes in your immediate area

The Market Value of Your Home Is:

Based on today’s market

Based on today’s competition

Based on today’s financing

Based on today’s economic condition

Based on the buyer’s perception of condition

Based on location

Based on normal marketing time

The SALES PRICES of other comparable homes in your immediate area within the last six months

Properties that Sell in Today’s Market:

On a scale of 1 to 10, the “10s” are the ones that are selling; how can your property be a “10”?

By improving the condition dramatically

By offering good terms

By improving the way the home shows

By adjusting the price

We’d Love to Help You Star in Our Next Real Estate Success Story!

3. Why Pricing Correctly at the Beginning is So Critical

One of the greatest challenges of our profession is pricing homes correctly. Obviously, as a listing agent, our highest priority is getting you, the seller, the highest possible sales price. However, one must be careful not to let that desire cloud one’s judgment as to what is reasonable and realistic in the circumstances. Here are some reasons why it is so critical to price a home properly from the beginning of a listing.

Most of Your Showings will Occur in the First Three Weeks Your Home is Listed

Per the National Association of Realtors (NAR), in a typical listing situation the number of showings per week increases during the first, second and third weeks after a home is listed for sale (peaking during the third week). Starting in the fourth week, the showings begin to decrease and continue to do so until approximately the eighth week, at which time they level off at the lowest level. Further, a new listing is (1) “exciting” (that is, there is an emotional advantage to you as a seller at the beginning of the listing period; buyers have an elevated sense of urgency and expectation at this time), (2) shown more, and (3) generally sells for a higher price than older listings. Later, fair or not, prospective buyers begin to wonder why your home hasn’t already been sold.

Homes Sell Closer to their Asking Price During the First Few Weeks

Based upon another study performed by the NAR, properly priced homes sell faster and for more money during the first weeks of the listing period. Specifically, here is what that study showed:

Month

Difference Between
Asking & Selling Price

One

-3.0%

Two-Three

-5.1%

Four-Six

-6.7%

More than Six

-15.2%

As you can see, it is very important to price your home properly from the very beginning. Most motivated buyers – and these are the people you are trying to attract – follow the market closely and typically look at new listings not long after they have been listed (this is particularly true during periods of rapid price appreciation, which is what we have experienced in this market for a number of years). If you overprice your home, you will likely miss out on this “first wave” of potential buyers, which is exactly the group that is most likely to pay the highest possible price for your home.